A number of hospital patients may have balance difficulties, particularly when changing surfaces. These patients include those with traumatic brain injuries, C.V.A.'s, incomplete spinal cord injuries, disease states which impair lower extremities sensation, vestibular diseases, and older patients with decreased 2.degree. sensation aging and a history of falling. In many cases, these patients may be retrained to walk again with the aid of a physical therapist.
Currently, permanent tracks are used by physical therapists in hospitals and clinics to provide the training on different surfaces. These tracks require at least a 20 foot by 21/2 foot space. Accordingly, most of these tracks are built outside where space is available. However, since most clinics, rehabilitation hospitals, and acute care hospitals have limited treatment areas and cannot give up the treatment space to install a permanent track, there are a limited number of facilities which can provide the therapy needed to retrain a patient with this type of balance problem. Further, the outdoor tracks can only be used in fair weather. Thus, in many parts of the country, an outdoor track is useful for only six to eight months of the year.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a multi-surface track which may be used indoors without a large space requirement or a large expense.